Such industrial control and automation systems generally comprise process controller devices, which are typically connected via networks to large quantities of field devices throughout a process control system. Field devices in a process come in a variety of types and functionalities and may be created by many different vendor companies. Controlling the huge variety of field devices in concert is a vital task for ensuring the productivity of process control systems.
Typical industrial processes today are extremely complex and involve many intelligent devices such as transmitters, positioners, motor drives, limit switches, and other communication enabled devices. By way of example, it is not unheard of to have thousands of sensors and control elements (e.g., valve actuators) monitoring/controlling aspects of a multi-stage process within an industrial plant. As field devices have become more advanced over time, the process of controlling and synchronizing the field devices has also increased in complexity.
In previous generations of industrial process control equipment, and more particularly field devices, transmitters and positioners were comparatively simple components. Before the introduction of digital (intelligent) transmitters, activities associated with a field device were relatively simple. Industry standards like 3-15 psi for pneumatic instruments or 4-20 ma for electronic instruments allowed a degree of interoperability that minimized setup, configuration, and operation of analog transmitters.
More contemporary field devices that include digital data transmitting capabilities and on-device digital processors, referred to generally as “intelligent” field devices, require significantly more configuration effort when setting up a new field device. Management of complex, intelligent devices requires a variety of different software interfaces, protocols, and drivers to ensure efficient interaction with each type of device.